A sprint burndown chart tracks the amount of remaining work in an agile sprint over time, plotted as a step (or line) series that descends as tasks are completed. A straight ideal-burndown guideline runs diagonally from the total committed scope on day one down to zero on the final day, giving the team an at-a-glance reference for whether they are ahead of or behind schedule. It is one of the most widely used project-management visualizations in software development, surfacing scope creep, stalled progress, and end-of-sprint risk early enough to act on.
""" anyplot.ai
burndown-sprint: Agile Sprint Burndown Chart
Library: seaborn 0.13.2 | Python 3.13.13
Quality: 89/100 | Created: 2026-06-14
"""
import sys
sys.path = sys.path[1:] # prevent this file from shadowing the seaborn library
import os
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import seaborn as sns
# Theme tokens — see prompts/default-style-guide.md "Theme-adaptive Chrome"
THEME = os.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG = "#FAF8F1" if THEME == "light" else "#1A1A17"
ELEVATED_BG = "#FFFDF6" if THEME == "light" else "#242420"
INK = "#1A1A17" if THEME == "light" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT = "#4A4A44" if THEME == "light" else "#B8B7B0"
INK_MUTED = "#6B6A63" if THEME == "light" else "#A8A79F"
# Imprint palette — canonical order, first series always #009E73
IMPRINT_PALETTE = ["#009E73", "#C475FD", "#4467A3", "#BD8233", "#AE3030", "#2ABCCD", "#954477", "#99B314"]
BRAND = IMPRINT_PALETTE[0] # actual burndown line — always first series
DANGER = IMPRINT_PALETTE[4] # scope-change marker — semantic: risk / alert
# Data — 10-working-day sprint, 14 calendar days (Mon–Fri × 2 weeks)
np.random.seed(42)
calendar_days = np.arange(15) # days 0 through 14
# Actual remaining story points (step series, recorded at end-of-day)
remaining = np.array(
[
40, # Day 0 Mon W1 — sprint start, 40 SP committed
37, # Day 1 Tue W1
34, # Day 2 Wed W1
32, # Day 3 Thu W1
36, # Day 4 Fri W1 — scope change: burned 4, added 8 (net +4)
36, # Day 5 Sat — weekend, no progress
36, # Day 6 Sun — weekend, no progress
31, # Day 7 Mon W2
25, # Day 8 Tue W2
18, # Day 9 Wed W2
10, # Day 10 Thu W2
3, # Day 11 Fri W2 — sprint winds down
3, # Day 12 Sat — weekend
3, # Day 13 Sun — weekend
0, # Day 14 Mon — retro day, all SP delivered
]
)
# Ideal burndown: straight line from original scope (40 SP) on day 0 to 0 on day 14
ideal = 40.0 * (1.0 - calendar_days / 14.0)
# X-axis labels: abbreviated day names across both sprint weeks
day_labels = ["Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun", "Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun", "Mon"]
# DataFrames for seaborn plotting API
df_actual = pd.DataFrame({"day": calendar_days, "remaining": remaining})
df_ideal = pd.DataFrame({"day": calendar_days, "ideal": ideal})
# Seaborn theme — Imprint chrome tokens applied globally
sns.set_theme(
style="ticks",
rc={
"figure.facecolor": PAGE_BG,
"axes.facecolor": PAGE_BG,
"axes.edgecolor": INK_SOFT,
"axes.labelcolor": INK,
"text.color": INK,
"xtick.color": INK_SOFT,
"ytick.color": INK_SOFT,
"grid.color": INK,
"grid.alpha": 0.15,
"legend.facecolor": ELEVATED_BG,
"legend.edgecolor": INK_SOFT,
},
)
# Plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(8, 4.5), dpi=400, facecolor=PAGE_BG)
ax.set_facecolor(PAGE_BG)
# Weekend shading bands (Sat–Sun, weeks 1 and 2)
for sat_day in [5, 12]:
ax.axvspan(sat_day - 0.5, sat_day + 1.5, color=INK_SOFT, alpha=0.07, zorder=0, linewidth=0)
# Ideal burndown — dashed muted reference line via seaborn lineplot
sns.lineplot(
data=df_ideal,
x="day",
y="ideal",
ax=ax,
color=INK_MUTED,
linewidth=2.0,
linestyle="--",
label="Ideal burndown",
alpha=0.9,
zorder=2,
)
# Actual remaining — step series via seaborn lineplot with drawstyle (brand green, always first series)
sns.lineplot(
data=df_actual,
x="day",
y="remaining",
ax=ax,
color=BRAND,
linewidth=2.8,
drawstyle="steps-post",
label="Actual remaining",
zorder=4,
)
ax.fill_between(calendar_days, remaining, 0, step="post", color=BRAND, alpha=0.07, zorder=1)
# Scope-change marker at day 4 — vertical dotted line (semantic danger red)
ax.axvline(x=4, color=DANGER, linewidth=1.5, linestyle=":", alpha=0.9, zorder=3)
ax.text(
4.22,
41.5,
"+8 SP\nscope change",
fontsize=9,
color=DANGER,
va="top",
ha="left",
fontweight="medium",
linespacing=1.4,
)
# Style
title = "burndown-sprint · python · seaborn · anyplot.ai"
ax.set_title(title, fontsize=12, fontweight="medium", color=INK, pad=12)
ax.set_xlabel("Sprint Day", fontsize=10, color=INK, labelpad=6)
ax.set_ylabel("Remaining Story Points", fontsize=10, color=INK, labelpad=6)
ax.tick_params(axis="both", colors=INK_SOFT)
# X-axis ticks — one per calendar day with abbreviated day name
ax.set_xticks(calendar_days)
ax.set_xticklabels(day_labels, fontsize=8, color=INK_SOFT)
ax.set_xlim(-0.5, 14.5)
ax.set_ylim(-2, 48)
# Spines
ax.spines["top"].set_visible(False)
ax.spines["right"].set_visible(False)
ax.spines["left"].set_color(INK_SOFT)
ax.spines["bottom"].set_color(INK_SOFT)
# Subtle y-axis grid
ax.yaxis.grid(True, alpha=0.15, linewidth=0.8, color=INK, zorder=0)
ax.set_axisbelow(True)
# Legend
legend = ax.legend(fontsize=8, loc="upper right", framealpha=0.9, edgecolor=INK_SOFT, borderpad=0.8)
legend.get_frame().set_facecolor(ELEVATED_BG)
for text in legend.get_texts():
text.set_color(INK_SOFT)
fig.subplots_adjust(left=0.09, right=0.97, top=0.91, bottom=0.12)
# Save — no bbox_inches='tight' (seaborn canvas rule: figsize × dpi must be exact)
plt.savefig(f"plot-{THEME}.png", dpi=400, facecolor=PAGE_BG)
plt.close()
Part of Agile Sprint Burndown Chart on anyplot.ai.